1.Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hand held percussion musical instruments and more particularly to gourd type percusive instruments having outside rasping elements and a plurality of sounding pebbles or pits within and more specifically to gourd type percussive instruments constructed by a combination of two different types of gourds to produce a unique and particular quality of useful sound, hand-rasped and rhythmically moved at the same time.
2.Description of the Related Art
The xe2x80x9cmaraca,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cguiroxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ccandungoxe2x80x9d are rhythmic percussion instruments made from gourds, generally spherical to light-bulb shaped dried wooden fruits. The maraca is a gourd made from the dried wooden fruit of the higuera tree, grown in tropical areas of the world. The candungo is made from the dried wooden fruit of the curcubitaceas tree having a spherical-like shape, that is the candungo shape has no blunt or horn shaped end. The marimbo is made from the dried wooden fruit of the curcubitaceas tree having two elongated ends. The guiro is a wooden dried fruit of the curcubitadeas tree having a blunt end and an elongated end. For all these musical instruments, generally, perforations are made through the outer wooden shell of these fruits after they are permitted to fully dry. The interior pulp is removed and replaced with small sounding pebbles or dried pits to be rattled within. A handle is often attached near or at the perforation areas of the dried fruit. Furrowed parallel indentations with regular striation patterns are cut into an area of the outer surface of the instrument somewhat centered between the ends. A comb-like rasper is then used to grate upon the striation pattern to produce according to the pressure and strokes employed and together with the rattled sounding pebbles, a unique and complex sound.
While similar in construction the sound from the maraca and the sound of the guiro are distinct, each producing unique and complex sounds when played. A person knowledgeable in these sounds can distinguish the sounds made from the maraca as compared to the guiro. Each one however is limited to its unique sound produced in exclusion to the sound of the other. In other words, to have both sounds, each instrument must be present and played. There is therefor, a need for another type of percussive instrument that produces its own unique sound, with the sound properties of both the maraca and guiro when played.
Known hand-held percussive instruments includes U.S. Pat. No. 2,318,460 to Samuel Brief on May 4, 1943 to describe a duel maraca removable mounted to a centrally elongated handle. The handle is uninvolved with the sound qualities that would be desirable. U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,485 to Alan Rudkin on Dec. 22, 1981 describes an elongated cylindrical multichambered percussion instruments with frusto-conical ends, confined free-flowing spherical bead members to produce rhythmic sounds when the instrument is shaken. U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,143 to Nadene Isackson on Aug. 19, 1997 describes a generally cylindrically shaped metallic central member with end diaphragms, the instrument containing metal particles, the size of the particles and diaphragms tuned to provide its superior percussive effects. Nevertheless, the instruments above described fail to adequately provide the time tested superior sound produced by the dried fruits of the malanga or the guiro.
My invention combines the advantages of the maraca and the guiro into a single instrument to produce an even more pleasing sound than either the maraca or the guiro while combining the qualities of the sound of each instrument further having the advantage that only one player is needed to produce the combination sound of the maraca and guiro. I do this by combining the center portion of a guiro with two maracas complete with sounding pebbles, each attached to an end of the modified guiro. The center portion of the invention is furrowed with a pattern of regular striation on the outer surface for receiving rasper grates. When completed according to my specification this combination instrument sounds very different from either the maraca or the guiro while retaining the desirable sounds of each.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved rhythmic instrument.
More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rhythmic instrument having the pleasing sounds produced by a guiro and the pleasing sounds produced by a maraca.
It is also an object to provide a combination rhythmic instrument combining the maraca and the guiro into a single instrument that can be played by a single person yet provide the attractive musical sounds of both instruments.
It is another object of the present invention to attain the foregoing objects and also to provide an improved percussive, rhythmic instrument that can be constructed easily and conveniently without the need for complicated tools yet withstand routine playing, handling and moving from one location.
Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description thereof.